


Reach Out for Me

by Shaw



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Insomnia, Just fiddling with more headcanons on how Vanitas is doing, Mild and Frankly VAGUE Violence, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 22:16:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17712641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaw/pseuds/Shaw
Summary: In the darkness, there are many things. This darkness happened to hold the key to Ventus not spending the whole night alone and in his own thoughts. Sure, maybe it wasn't the best company, but it was better than nothing.





	Reach Out for Me

Ventus had never been fond of sleeping in total darkness. Originally for reasons childish, and then later simply for reasons such as ease of navigation should he have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It became more out of habit that he should have some sort of light in his room as he slept. Aqua had even gotten out his old night light when they re-established themselves back into their old home. It sat dark, unused, on his desk.

 

Otherwise, he wouldn’t come out. 

 

So Ventus waited. He sat cross legged on his bed, eyes wide open and straining vainly in the pitch black to see something, anything. There was no noise to be heard. If Aqua and Terra were awake, Ventus wouldn’t know. 

 

“Why?” Vanitas rasped. Ventus felt some of the tension that had built up in his shoulders release. He could swear he felt the bed dip next to him. He wanted to reach out but refrained. He didn’t know what he would actually find there. 

 

“Because… Reasons. I don’t know sometimes. I just want to see if you’re still there, I guess.” The darkness whispered nothings as Ventus tried to keep his breathing as inconspicuous as possible. Everything sounded so loud in the silence that was left by Vanitas. 

 

“You’re a nuisance.” A smile twitched on Ventus’ lips at this. This should probably be terrifying, what he was doing. He was practically inviting trouble. He was letting Vanitas so close, giving him so much room. If need be all he had to do was turn on a light and he could regain control but that was if he would ever make it to the light. Somehow Ventus doubted he’d have to do so. 

 

“Yeah, you’ve told me that before. Besides, what else am I going to do but bother you? I’ve got a lot of free time suddenly.” _Because of the whole not sleeping thing._ He wanted to say. Vanitas likely knew. How could he not, if he was so close to Ventus as he said he was. 

 

Something shifted across his skin, like cloth, and it made him shiver. He held back the need to ask what that had been. More questions with answers he didn’t necessarily need answered. The feeling spread slowly over his body, slithering under his pajamas until Ventus felt like he was wearing two layers. 

 

“Is that you?” He finally asked, voice small. Vanitas didn’t answer for a long time; Ventus could feel his own heart pounding against the insides of his ribs. He swallowed tightly and licked his lip. 

 

“No, that’s not me.” Vanitas finally said, sarcasm dripping from his words. Ventus moved his fingers slowly from where they’d curled into his sleep short and stroked one down the side of his calf. It felt… Weird. Almost in a bad way. It was like touching cloth, if cloth had somehow been made of human skin and thin air at the same time. It made Ventus’ stomach turn. 

 

“What is this?” More silence. Usually Vanitas had a little more to say for himself. 

 

“This is… as close as I can get.” The hiss was almost missed, so quiet in the night that Ventus would have missed it. He knew. He understood immediately and quietly wrapped his arms around himself. 

 

“Why do you do this to yourself?” It was tough to talk about, even for Ventus. There were times when even now, when he thought about it too long, his heart ached. It yearned and writhed and reached out for something it didn’t _need_ but most certainly _wanted_. Sometimes Ventus was scared his heart would want so hard that it would break itself just to get back what was its. 

 

“For you.” Vanitas answered, simply. His voice growled out from what seemed like everywhere, filling Ventus’ head and trapping him where he sat. He tightened his grip on himself, hoping somehow that Vanitas could feel it. 

 

“I don’t want you to do this… You only hurt yourself…” Something that was supposed to be a laugh emerged from the pitch and it made the hairs on the back of Ventus’ neck stand up. It was shrill and empty. 

 

“You _need_ me to do this. The pain only makes me stronger, makes you shine brighter.” 

 

“Did he tell you that?” If darkness could look shocked, it did now. Ventus stared into it and waited. He had a suspicion he’d struck a nerve. Sometimes he forgot Vanitas even had those anymore, with how he acted. 

 

It happened very suddenly. Where Vanitas had been, was suddenly empty. It was like Ventus’ had been stripped of his clothes and perhaps more appropriately, of his skin. It _hurt_ and he couldn’t help the gasp that came from him as the pain made his sense of balance all but disappear. He fell right off the bed and hit the floor in a tumble of limbs. He tried to breath, but it felt like he was choking on the sensation. 

 

“What could you know? Don’t talk about things like you understand. _Because you don’t._ ”

 

“ _Jackass._ ” Ventus hissed through clenched teeth. Everything stung. The initial pain had quickly faded to something more manageable but that didn’t mean much. Slowly, he raised himself and managed to crawl back into his bed. He laid there, ignoring the burning of his skin where Vanitas had sat. 

 

“You make it very hard to get along with you sometimes.” He muttered eventually. Even with pain searing at his memory and his flesh, Ventus wanted to reach out. Wanted to see if maybe this time Vanitas would reach back. 

 

“I don’t care.” 

 

“If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be making such an effort.” He countered. Vanitas made a noise somewhere between childish insult and annoyance. Ventus flexed his fingers and closed his eyes. He may have still been imagining it, but it felt like someone had taken a seat at the foot of his bed. 

 

“You have to have some incentive. If you get too complacent…”

 

“What? I might actually like you?” 

 

“Maybe.” 

 

“And what a travesty that would be.” Ventus grumbled, brow cinching together. He moved his feet carefully, hoping he wouldn’t nudge what may or may not be sitting nearby. Vanitas didn’t answer this time but Ventus knew he was still likely present. 

 

“Do you think if we joined, sleeping would be in the realm of possibility?” Flopping onto his back, Ventus opened his eyes again. The same darkness greeted him, making his eyes draw strange non-existent shapes forth from it. Vanitas again laughed, and like before, it made Ventus cringe despite himself. 

 

“I doubt it. I don’t sleep.” Something about this caught Ventus off guard. 

 

“You… Don’t? You mean, now, or… You just never slept?” Perhaps it was the genuine concern, or just Ventus asking questions, but Vanitas went silent again. The discomfort was almost tangible but perhaps it was just because Ventus knew enough about Vanitas’ patterns to know why he was acting a certain why. 

 

“I told you,” Vanitas started, voice strangely quiet “I’m not human.” 

 

“Humans aren’t the only thing that sleep, Vanitas.” Ventus replied, slightly annoyed. 

 

“That doesn’t matter. I don’t sleep. Not now, not ever.” It was Ventus’ turn to be quiet. Something about the revelation made his chest hurt. He wondered how they slept before. Before they were separated. Did they sleep well? He remembered he slept decently before the whole ‘10 Year Coma’ thing happened. But…

 

“Did you… eat?” He felt silly asking. He felt like he knew what answer he was going to get. 

 

“No. Do you have any more stupid questions to ask me?” Ventus shook his head slowly. Maybe Vanitas was… a little more right about the not being human thing than Ventus really wanted to admit. That didn’t mean he was necessarily a monster. Just… a little different. Definitely still human adjacent. 

 

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you don’t sleep though.” A sigh, like wind whistling through a tree canopy, sounded by Ventus’ ear. He swore he could almost feel breath whisper over his face. 

 

“And _why_ is that?” Vanitas implored. Ventus’ lips crooked up in a small smile as he threw his arm over his face. He let the silence hang between them this time and eventually he answered with a heavy sigh. 

 

“I just have a feeling that this is going to be a very long night.”

**Author's Note:**

> Me, being vague and weird and making things up about the darkness and how creatures of darkness can interact with literal incorporeal darkness? Pfft... M... Maybe. Listen, we've seen weirder in the canon series. Anyways! Thanks as always for reading! I love kudos but comments are majorly appreciated! Thank yooou <3


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